This past Tuesday, I had the privilege to moderate a Capitol Hill briefing as part of a collaboration between the Alliance for Home Health Quality and Innovation and the Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine. The briefing focused on home health and its overall value to the health care delivery system, through a discussion on a supplement and corresponding Clinical Medical Education (CME) program in partnership with the Cleveland Clinic.

The supplement, titled, “Optimizing Home Health Care: Enhanced Value and Improved Outcomes”, compiles articles from distinguished physicians, nurses and academics, who are experts in delivering health care at home. This research represents the Alliance’s support of peer-reviewed work demonstrating how home health can be used more effectively to address patient needs, improve outcomes, and lower costs in the Medicare system.

The VCU Medical Center implemented a hospital-based transitional care program (TCP) 12 years ago that has served more than 500 patients. This program resulted in a decreased use of hospital resources— including fewer inpatient days, shorter lengths of stay, and fewer intensive care unit days— after enrollment in the TCP.

The Heart Care at Home program helps patients avoid the “black hole” of returning home after hospital discharge with complicated medication regimes and restrictions through visits with home care nurses and the use of telehealth.

Palliative care and home health can work in tandem to reduce pain and manage symptoms while still pursing curative or life-prolonging treatments. Two programs- Kaiser Permanente’s In-Home Palliative Care Program and Sutter Health’s Advanced Illness Management (AIM) program have been successful in their efforts. The Kaiser program delivers all service into the home and contributed to increased patient satisfaction and an average cost savings of $8,000 per person and a 52% reduction in readmission rates heart failure patients.

If you missed the briefing, please visit ahhqi.org to view the webcast and materials. We will also be bringing you a detailed blog post on each of the author’s articles in the coming weeks, so please be sure to check back here for updates!